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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
#Zimbabwe
A coming-of-age story meets displacement and immigration with ten-year-old Darling.
I felt the first half of the book was much more developed than the latter half. However, the most impactful quote of the book to me:
A coming-of-age story meets displacement and immigration with ten-year-old Darling.
I felt the first half of the book was much more developed than the latter half. However, the most impactful quote of the book to me:
“Because we were not in our country, we could not use our own languages, and so when we spoke our voices came out bruised. When we talked, our tongues thrashed madly in our mouths, staggered like drunken men. Because we were not using our languages we said things we did not mean; what we really wanted to say remained folded inside. Trapped.”
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
NoViolet does a wonderful job presenting the psychology of Darling in her narrative. The first half of the book is absolutely brilliant and stunning, a beautiful and simple portrait of another world. The second half provides a modern comparison of it with American culture (although I cringe at the raw honesty of her portrayal- America is pretty ugly). This immigration story, of reinventing one's life away from home, is one that transcends not only culture but space and time- Darling speaks to every reader.
I was on a very "meh" streak, and this broke it wide open. It's got beautiful language, fresh metaphors, and some very memorable storytelling before the protagonist gets to America. (When she gets to America, it's not as interesting, primarily because I live there. I really liked traveling to Africa. Also, she's rather abruptly in America without a lot of explanation.)
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Happy at times and sad at times but so colorfully written and read. You feel you understand a slice of what it must be like to never see home again, both in the immediate loss of leaving and growing loss of missing it all.
first of all, this book is flawed. sometimes, the author's voice comes out instead of darling's, and it's quite jarring. there are observations darling makes that wouldn't make sense coming out of a 10-year-old girl, even though I do believe children are often wise without knowing it. i think these ideas are important and i'm glad they were included ... it's just one of the challenges that come with writing from a kid's perspective.
and yes, there is very little plot. it's more of a character study, a slice of life. i love these kinds of books, but i know it's not for everyone.
those are my two issues with this book. other than that, it punches you in the gut and you should read it. it gives you a lot to think about and, voice-shifts aside, the writing is something special. it's a good book.
and yes, there is very little plot. it's more of a character study, a slice of life. i love these kinds of books, but i know it's not for everyone.
those are my two issues with this book. other than that, it punches you in the gut and you should read it. it gives you a lot to think about and, voice-shifts aside, the writing is something special. it's a good book.
One of the most beautiful books I have read in a long time. Bulawayon captures the tone and cadence of a young girl growing up half wild in a ravaged slum in Zimbabwe. Darling is by turns hilariously funny and breathtakngly acute in her estimation of the grownup world. Running with her gang from a settlement called Paradise, they steal guavas from the lush trees of Budapest--a more upscale suburb. They play ingenious games--the country game is a perfect child mirror of the reality of First World and THird World--an FInding bin Laden is fun only up to a point, then it becomes a bore. Eventually Darling is plucked out of this world and travels to the US to live with her Aunt in Destroyed, Michigan. And isn't that an apt misunderstanding of a foreign name! The remainder of the book follows Darling as she settles into a new home, new realities and remembers, but cannot recapture "home-home." There are parts of this book that are so acute, so perceptive, so beautiful the reader is stopped in her tracks. Wondering at such a soul.